Recently there have been a few issues in the school house that have created strong emotion in me. I am wondering just how real the problems related to these issues are so I've decided to chart the information for a month. I'll keep track of the words, timing, and other facts related to the issue and then in one month, I'll use the data to do a truthful analysis that addresses the following questions:
- Does the data support my emotion/feelings in this situation?
- If the data does support what I'm feeling, what are the next steps with regard to creating positive change?
- How can we use this analysis to better our programming in the days ahead?
Before jumping to conclusions, it's critical that we take a holistic look at a situation including formal and informal data collection.
For example one of my main charges at school is teaching fifth graders math. We have a number of assessment practices that helps us to assess our progress in this area. As I grow the program, I am paying close attention to those assessments including systemwide assessments, state assessments, student surveys, formal/informal observation, and collegial discussion/conversation.
This mix of formal and informal data demonstrates to me that some are doing very well and for others, we need to look for how we can support them more and better. Some structures put in place to support this betterment includes extra help sessions, greater tailoring of lesson delivery, preferential seating for listening or follow-the-leader lessons and more.
It's critical that we don't waste time on a lot of discussion that is not well researched or understood--we have to do the good work to prove the issues true or false, and then we have to work at betterment in those situations. Onward.
